Ready, Set, Go?

I'm getting prepared for a trip to Vegas that I have been looking forward to for months. My life has changed so much since I was there 9 years ago. I am now married and have 3 kids. I also now have Type 1 Diabetes and Celiac Disease. This trip will be a little different than the last one!

I do plan to have a GREAT time with my sister. While I may be a little more annoying to wait staff in restaurants and I won't be drinking nearly as much as I did on my last trip, I do plan to have heaps of fun. I won't be partaking in yard long margaritas but I will carefully be having a few (dozen?) of my new drink of choice: vodka-soda with a twist of lime. Delicious!

Since I have 3 small children and we have all been sick this week I have spent most of my time staying on top of the never ending pile of laundry in our house so that I actually have something clean to take with me. But who am I kidding? I plan on shopping for new stuff the day I get there so I may pack light anyway.

So, my dilemma today has been to decide how on earth I am going to pack all of my "accessories" in a small enough "purse" so that night club staff won't think I am smuggling in a small child. My diabetic friends know what I talking about. I lined up all of the things I thought were important enough to pack in my purse and I came up with this:

• wallet
• camera
• cell phone
• lipstick and compact
• Lactaid
• Insulin pen and needles
• Blood glucose meter, test strips and lancet
• Glucose tabs

I decided this was all a little too much to be hauling around for several hours in the evenings. So I took a deep breath and made some adjustments. I clearly HAVE to take my testing supplies, insulin and glucose tabs. I also need ID, money and health info for emergencies. I decided the camera could stay behind (no one needs evidence of their time in Vegas anyway), and I could just cull my wallet for the necessities. The Lactaid isn't essential either as I can avoid dairy but it is small so I thought I could squeeze 2 in there. My lipstick and compact were also "optional" but I'd rather have them than not. I can't decide on the cell phone and may need to get creative with that one. 

I managed to get almost all of it in this little bag!

I couldn't fit the glucose tabs so I put some single tabs (4X4g) in one of the small pockets. I figure I will always be within 10 feet of a bar and can get some sprite or juice if necessary so I have enough for an emergent situation until I can get someone to get me some juice/pop. The cell phone won't fit so I may just leave it behind. If I think about actually needing my phone to call 911 I wouldn't be in any state to call for myself anyway if paramedics became necessary. Plus, every person within 100 feet of me will have a cell phone if I really need one.

Tomorrow I plan to call to enquire about the Tournament of Kings menu at the Excalibur. It is extremely unlikely that their dessert is gluten free but I'm hoping that the soup, cornish hen and potatoes are. If not, we will have to eat somewhere else and then see the Thunder From Down Under instead! HAHA!